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Windows 7: New build - your advice appreciated

As a personal project I intend to build myself a medium spec (can't afford top spec) gaming machine. Below I am listing the components that I am thinking of installing, and the price I can get the parts at. I would be interested in your responses regarding the suitability of these components and whether you think alternatives might be better. Obviously I am being cost concious so if there are any parts that might be considered OTT, or conversely, any that could be bettered (without spending a fortune) then please say.

I was intending to fit two packs of the above making 8Gb total, however in order to save a bit of cash would I notice much difference in performance if I fitted just 4 Gb and used the 1333MHz memory below. This option would save me£120.00

I have 3 x 250 Gb sata HDDs in my existing machine that I intend to transfer to the new machine. OS will be Win 7 professional 64 bit. Question: Will I be able to boot the new machine directly from these hard drives. One contains XP pro and the other Win 7 pro 64 bit.

Total cost £913.00 however if I went for the alternative cooler and memory I could get the total cost down to £776.00

For a middle spec gaming computer, there is no need for 8gb of RAM. I would certainly cut that down to 4 and save the cash right now. I would also start out with just 1 video card and see how it performs for you. I've never had a need to run dual video cards to play games at high settings on a single monitor.

Odd Job,
Welcome to SF. Consider this board as well, saves money and allows flexibility with your second GPU later ! I would go with the 8gb of 1333 ram and I think you'll be real happy. I like the Cool-it but the Zalman would be fine for a non OC'd system in that massively cool case.http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=pr...1&prod_no=2105
I'm finding this mobo for $135.00usd. Your system will be stable and I think you'll find your WEI scores will be top flight. Take tons of pictures all the way through the build and please post for us when done !
Good luck.

Also...if you aren't planning to overclock there probably isn't a "need" for an aftermarket CPU cooler. Heck, I run my Intel Q9550 with the retail cooler even with a small overclock as my temperatures are no problem whatsoever. I run in the low 30's at idle and top out around 55 under full load. This is well within acceptable for my CPU.

I think the prior poster might have meant to go with the 4GB of RAM at 1333mhz and you will be really happy. I'm 99.9% positive that with just about any video game....you are not going to see any performance gain going with 8GB of RAM.

Also...if you aren't planning to overclock there probably isn't a "need" for an aftermarket CPU cooler. Heck, I run my Intel Q9550 with the retail cooler even with a small overclock as my temperatures are no problem whatsoever. I run in the low 30's at idle and top out around 55 under full load. This is well within acceptable for my CPU.

I think the prior poster might have meant to go with the 4GB of RAM at 1333mhz and you will be really happy. I'm 99.9% positive that with just about any video game....you are not going to see any performance gain going with 8GB of RAM.

The reason I'm going for an aftermarket cooler is because I live in Spain and the summertime temp here can reach 45C and higher. The cooling fans on my current machine are working overtime in the summer and it gets as noisy as hell. The idea is that with plenty of cooling available the machine might run a little quieter, hopefully.

Quality fans are the trick here. I would invest in great 120mm fans as they will run wide open and very quietly. Oh and 8 gigs is the trick with W7 64bit and I would keep that if in budget other wise use 2 sticks now and upgrade later along with the second GPU.

Quality fans are the trick here. I would invest in great 120mm fans as they will run wide open and very quietly. Oh and 8 gigs is the trick with W7 64bit and I would keep that if in budget other wise use 2 sticks now and upgrade later along with the second GPU.

That's why I'm spending so much on that case (I originally thought I was being extravagant). It has two 120mm intake fans on the front (with washable dust filters). A 120mm exhaust fan on the rear, and a big 200mm fan on the top. The front fans have speed controls on the front panel and the other fans are switchable from the rear of the case. The PSU is situated at the bottom of the case also which gives more air space around the CPU.

Yeah the 200mm's spin very slow but the 120's can make noise, with luck you'll get good performance and life from them. I just replaced all my stock 120's with Noc's and the sound of silence is golden !

My aim when I've completed the build is to run Crysis again on full settings, just to appreciate the quality of the graphics. Do you think this rig will be capable of that ?

Oh, and if someone could answer my final question in my OP that would be appreciated:

Quote:

I have 3 x 250 Gb sata HDDs in my existing machine that I intend to transfer to the new machine. OS will be Win 7 professional 64 bit. Question: Will I be able to boot the new machine directly into my OS's from these hard drives, or will I need to reinstall. One contains XP pro and the other Win 7 pro 64 bit.

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